Dual-interface IC card components and method for manufacturing the dual-interface IC card components

ABSTRACT

Dual-interface Integrated Circuit (IC) card components and methods for manufacturing the dual-interface IC card components are described. In an embodiment, a dual-interface IC card component includes a single-sided contact base structure, which includes a substrate with an electrical contact layer. On the single-sided contact base structure, one or more antenna contact leads are attached to the single-sided contact base structure to form a dual-interface contact structure by applying an adhesive material to partially cover an overlapping area of the at least one antenna contact and the substrate, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card. Other embodiments are also described.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/242,031, filed on Apr. 1, 2014, which isincorporated herein by reference.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to electronic circuitsand, more particularly, to integrated circuit (IC) devices and methodsfor manufacturing IC devices.

An IC card, such as a smart card, includes an embedded integratedcircuit that can be used to store information and perform dataprocessing. For example, a portable IC card can be used in financial,transportation, security, healthcare, or other applications to provideidentification and authentication. Types of IC cards include contact ICcards that communicate via electrical contacts, contactless IC cardsthat communicate wirelessly through antennas, and dual-interface ICcards that communicate via electrical contacts and wirelessly throughantennas. Compared to contact IC cards and contactless IC cards,dual-interface IC cards allow users to switch between contact cardreaders and contactless card readers. However, since dual-interface ICcards include both electrical contacts and antennas, the dual-interfaceIC cards are more expensive to manufacture than contact IC cards andcontactless IC cards. In addition, a dual-interface IC card is generallyrequired to fulfill mechanical requirements to ensure that thedual-interface IC card can continue to operate properly under mechanicalstress. For example, the chip card module of a dual-interface IC cardneeds to continue to be attached to the card body when a mechanical loadis applied to the card body. In addition, the chip card module of adual-interface IC card needs to deform together with the card body andstay functional after certain mechanical deformation. The chip cardmodule needs to protect the integrated circuit and wire connectionsinside the chip card module of a dual-interface IC card from beingdamaged by mechanical deformation. Therefore, there is a need forlow-cost and flexible dual-interface IC card components andmanufacturing flexible dual-interface IC card components in acost-effective manner.

Dual-interface Integrated Circuit (IC) card components and methods formanufacturing the dual-interface IC card components are described. In anembodiment, a dual-interface IC card component includes a single-sidedcontact base structure, which includes a substrate with an electricalcontact layer. On the single-sided contact base structure, one or moreantenna contact leads are attached to the single-sided contact basestructure to form a dual-interface contact structure by applying anadhesive material to partially cover an overlapping area of the at leastone antenna contact and the substrate, which is a component of adual-interface IC card. The dual-interface contact structure is morecost-effective than using a prefabricated dual-interface contact tapecurrently available in the marketplace, which is typically made fromscratch using etching or stamping technology. In addition, thedual-interface contact structure is more cost-effective than adual-interface contact structure manufactured by applying an adhesivematerial to completely cover an overlapping area of an antenna contactand a substrate. Other embodiments are also described.

In an embodiment, a method for manufacturing a dual-interface IC cardcomponent involves obtaining a single-sided contact base structure,where the single-sided contact base structure includes a substrate withan electrical contact layer and attaching at least one antenna contactlead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesivematerial to partially cover an overlapping area of the at least oneantenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card.

In an embodiment, a method for manufacturing a dual-interface IC cardcomponent involves obtaining a base structure, where the base structureincludes a substrate, attaching at least one antenna contact lead to thebase structure by applying an adhesive material to partially cover anoverlapping area of the at least one antenna contact and the substrateto form a dual-interface contact structure, which is a component of adual-interface IC card and plating the at least one antenna contact andthe base structure with at least one metal material.

In an embodiment, a dual-interface IC card component includes asubstrate, an electrical contact layer attached to a first side of thesubstrate and at least one antenna contact lead glued to a second,opposite, side of the substrate in an area that is smaller than theoverlapping area of the at least one antenna contact and the substrate.The electrical contact layer includes a contact plate and a plurality ofgrooves.

Other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, depicted by way of exampleof the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dual-interface IC card inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a front-side view of an embodiment of a dual-interface ICchip module of the dual-interface IC card depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a back-side view of the dual-interface IC chip moduledepicted in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a single-sided contact tape, which isused to produce a dual-interface contact base structure for thedual-interface IC chip module depicted in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a single-sided contact tape depictedin FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of a single-sided contact tape withadhesive material applied to the tape.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the single-sided contact tapedepicted in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 depicts an embodiment of a dual-interface contact structurehaving an antenna contact lead.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the dual-interface contact structuredepicted in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 depicts an embodiment of a reel of dual-interface IC chipmodules produced using the dual-interface contact structure depicted inFIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a single dual-interface IC chipmodule depicted in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 illustrates some mechanical tests for the dual-interface IC carddepicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 illustrates a deformation of the dual-interface IC card depictedin FIG. 1 under mechanical tests.

FIG. 14 is a process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing adual-interface IC card component in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 15 is a process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing adual-interface IC card component in accordance with another embodimentof the invention.

Throughout the description, similar reference numbers may be used toidentify similar elements.

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments asgenerally described herein and illustrated in the appended figures couldbe arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.Thus, the following detailed description of various embodiments, asrepresented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of thepresent disclosure, but is merely representative of various embodiments.While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings,the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specificallyindicated.

The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only asillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is,therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by this detaileddescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, orsimilar language does not imply that all of the features and advantagesthat may be realized with the present invention should be or are in anysingle embodiment. Rather, language referring to the features andadvantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, orcharacteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included inat least one embodiment. Thus, discussions of the features andadvantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, butdo not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics ofthe invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, in light ofthe description herein, that the invention can be practiced without oneor more of the specific features or advantages of a particularembodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages maybe recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in allembodiments of the invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the indicatedembodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the phrases “inone embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dual-interface IC card 100 inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. The dual-interface ICcard can be used in financial, transportation, security, healthcare, orother applications to store information and perform data processing. Insome embodiments, the dual-interface IC card has the ability to securelymanage, store and provide access to data on the card, perform on-cardfunctions, such as encryption, authentication, and authorization, andinteract intelligently with a card reader. The dual-interface IC cardcan communicate by electrical contacts or wirelessly through an antenna.In an embodiment, the dual-interface IC card is a smart card, which canbe used in Near field communication (NFC) applications. In someembodiments, the IC card is a smart card that is designed to becompatible with the International Organization for Standardization(ISO)/the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 14443. Asdescribed in more detail below, the manufacturing cost of thedual-interface IC card can be significantly lower than conventionaldual-interface IC cards because the dual-interface IC card can beproduced using a prefabricated single-sided contact base structure thatis used to make a module for a contact smart card (e.g., a standardsingle-sided contact tape currently available in the marketplace),rather than a more expensive prefabricated double-sided contact basestructure that is used to make a module for a dual-interface smart card(e.g., a standard double-sided contact tape currently available in themarket). In addition, the manufacturing cost of the dual-interface ICcard can be significantly lower than

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the dual-interface IC card 100includes a contact layer 102, a substrate 104, an adhesive layer 106,antenna contact leads 108, an IC chip 110, bond wires 112, anencapsulation 114, adhesives 116, an electrical connection layer 118, anantenna layer 120, and a card body 122. Although the dual-interface ICcard is shown in FIG. 1 as including certain components, in otherembodiments, the dual-interface IC card may include fewer components oradditional components that are commonly found in conventionaldual-interface smart cards.

The contact layer 102 of the dual-interface IC card 100 is used to makeelectrical contacts with a card reader to communicate with the cardreader. In some embodiments, the contact layer is located at the frontside of the dual-interface IC card while the card body 122 is located atthe back side of the dual-interface IC card. The contact layer may bemade of metal or other conductive material. In some embodiments, thecontact layer is made of Gold (Au)-Nickel (Ni) plated Copper (Cu) foilor galvano deposited Cu. The contact layer, which is also referred to asthe contact pad, provides electrical connectivity when thedual-interface IC card is inserted into a card reader. In someembodiments, the contact layer is designed and produced to be compatiblewith the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7816. Thecontact layer typically includes groove/recess lines used toelectrically insulate contact areas of the contact layer from each otherand make the contact layer more flexible. In the embodiment depicted inFIG. 1, the contact layer has two groove lines 124-1, 124-2. However, inother embodiments, the contact layer may have any number of groovelines.

The substrate 104 is used to support other elements of thedual-interface IC card 100, such as the contact layer 102, the antennacontact leads 108 and the IC chip 110. The substrate may be made of anysuitable substrate material. As an example, the substrate may be made ofEpoxy glass, fiberglass, or plastic substrates (Polyethylene naphthalate(PEN), etc.). In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, a bonding hole 126is present on the substrate to enable wire bonding of the IC chip 100 tothe contact layer. The substrate may be in the form of a sheet or atape. In some embodiments, the contact layer and the substrate form asingle-sided contact base structure, which may be packaged into asingle-sided contact tape. For example, a device manufacturer mayproduce a prefabricated single-sided contact base structure thatincludes the contact layer and the substrate in mass quantities. In someembodiments, an optional adhesive layer 103 is located between thecontact layer and the substrate.

The adhesive layer 106 of the dual-interface IC card 100 is used toattach the antenna contact leads 108 onto the substrate 104. Theadhesive layer 106 may be made of any suitable adhesive material or acombination of adhesive materials. Examples of the adhesive materialthat can be used for the adhesive layer include (without being limitedto) conductive glue (e.g., anisotropic conductive glue), non-conductiveglue (e.g., hotmelt), double sided sticky tapes, and anisotropicconductive foils. In some embodiments, the adhesive layer 106 is made ofglue. The adhesive layer can be formed by applying an adhesive material(e.g., glue) on the substrate and/or the antenna contact leads byvarious processes. For example, the adhesive material may be dispense onthe substrate or pre-applied on the antenna contact leads. A curingprocess (e.g., oven curing) may then be performed to cure the adhesivematerial. In some embodiments, the antenna contact leads are platedafter the adhesive material is cured with one or more plating materials,such as nickel (Ni), gold (Au) and palladium (Pd). Plating the antennacontact leads can allow the antenna contact leads to have betterelectrical conductivity.

The antenna contact leads 108 of the dual-interface IC card 100 are usedto provide electrical contacts between an antenna (e.g., the antennalayer 120) and the IC chip 110. The antenna contact leads may be made ofany suitable conductive material. For example, the antenna contact leadsmay be made of a metal foil or a metal laminate, which includes a metalfoil and a substrate. In some embodiments, the antenna contact leads aremade of gold and nickel (Au—Ni) plated copper (Cu) or silver (Ag) platedstainless steel. The antenna contact leads may be made in any suitabledimensions. In some embodiments, the antenna contact leads have auniform thickness. For example, the thickness of the antenna contactleads may be in a range (e.g., between 10 micrometers (μm) and 100 μm),which overlaps with the standard thickness for antenna contact leads(e.g., between 18 μm and 35 μm for Cu foil) of smart cards. The antennacontact leads can be produced by any suitable process, including(without being limited to), punching, etching and laser cutting a sheetor a reel to reel of a conductive material or a sheet or a reel to reelof a non-conductive material with a conductive plating. In someembodiments, the antenna contact leads are produced by punching either astandalone conductive sheet or a conductive sheet in a reel-to-reelformat. In some embodiments, the antenna contact leads are produced bydepositing a metal layer on a plastic substrate material. In someembodiments, the antenna contact leads are plated with suitablematerial, such as Ni, Au and/or Ag, for better antenna attachment or forbetter wire bond attachment. The antenna contact leads may be made ofany suitable shape or dimension. In some embodiments, the antennacontact leads are designed and produced with features to ease theinterconnection process with the substrate 104. For example, one or moreantenna contact leads may have a spring like feature or may be crimpedto improve adhesion of the conductive material (e.g., glue etc.) used inthe interconnection process. The antenna contact leads can be attachedto the substrate 104 by a pick-and-place process in which one or moreantenna contact leads are picked up and placed on the substrate.Alternatively, the antenna contact leads can be attached to thesubstrate in a reel-to-reel process in which adhesive is applied to theantenna contact leads on a first reel, which is then applied onto asecond reel, i.e., the single-sided contact tape, similar to the processof attaching a sheet of paper labels onto products. In some embodiments,instead of contact leads, a primary antenna structure is applied to thesubstrate 104 by a pick-and-place process in which the primary antennastructure is picked up and placed on the substrate. Although the antennacontact leads are shown in FIG. 1 as being electrically connected to theantenna layer 120 through the electrical connection layer 118, in otherembodiments, the antenna contact leads may be in direct contact with theantenna layer. In addition, in other embodiments, the antenna contactleads are either connected to an antenna located on the substrate 104 orconnected to a small antenna directly placed on the substrate, to becompliant with ISO/IEC 14443 requirements. In these embodiments, theantenna layer 120 acts as a “booster” antenna, which iselectromagnetically coupled to the antenna located on the substrate.

In some embodiments, the contact layer 102, the substrate 104, theadhesive layer 106, and the antenna contact leads 108 form adual-interface contact structure, which may be produced in massquantities. For example, a device manufacturer can producedual-interface contact structures in mass quantities based onprefabricated single-sided contact base structures, such asprefabricated single-sided contact tapes provided by Linxens, Interplex,Kinsus, LG Innotek and Possehl.

The IC chip 110 of the dual-interface IC card 100 includes circuitry tosecurely manage, store and provide access to data on the card and/orperform on-card functions, such as encryption, authentication, andauthorization. The IC chip is designed to communicate with anotherdevice (e.g., a card reader) by electrical contacts or wirelesslythrough an antenna. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, thedual-interface IC card includes a single IC chip with both contact andcontactless interfaces, which makes is possible to access the IC chip110 using either a contact interface (e.g., the contact layer 102) or acontactless interface (e.g., the antenna layer 120) with a high level ofsecurity. Alternatively, the dual-interface IC card may include two ICchips, including one IC chip with a contact interface and another,separated, IC chip with a contactless interface. The IC chip may beattached to the substrate 104 using any appropriate method. As anexample, in some embodiments, the IC chip is glued onto the substrateusing an adhesive layer 107.

The bond wires 112-1, 112-2 of the dual-interface IC card 100 are usedto electrically connect the IC chip 110 to the contact layer 102 and tothe antenna layer 120. The bond wires may be made of any suitable metal(e.g., aluminum or copper). In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, thebond wire 112-1 electrically connects the IC chip to the contact layerwhile the bond wire 112-2 electrically connects the IC chip to theantenna contact leads 108, which is electrically connected to theantenna layer 120. Bond pads may be used to attach the bond wires to theIC chip, the antenna contact leads, and/or the contact layer. In otherembodiments, the connections between the bond wires and the contactlayer or antenna contact leads may be different from the connectionsshown in FIG. 1.

The encapsulation 114 of the dual-interface IC card 100 is used toprotect the bond wires 112 and the IC chip 110. The encapsulation may bemade of a suitable material, such as epoxy, in a process such asglob-top or molding.

In some embodiments, the contact layer 102, the substrate 104, theadhesive layer 106, the antenna contact leads 108, the IC chip 110, thebond wires 112, and the encapsulation 114 form a dual-interface IC chipmodule 150. A device manufacturer may produce dual-interface IC chipmodules in mass quantities. For example, a device manufacturer mayproduce dual-interface IC chip modules in mass quantities based ondual-interface contact structures. Each dual-interface contact structureincludes the contact layer, the substrate, the adhesive layer, and theantenna contact leads.

The adhesives 116 of the dual-interface IC card 100 are used to attachthe dual-interface IC chip module 150, to the card body 122. Theadhesives may be made of a suitable material, such as film material orgel material (e.g., epoxy or acrylate). In an embodiment, the adhesivesare made of a hot melt adhesive material, such as adhesive epoxy or anyother thermoplastic material, which becomes viscous with heat.

The electrical connection layer 118 of the dual-interface IC card 100 isused to provide electrical connectivity between the antenna contactleads 108 and the antenna layer 120. The electrical connection layer maybe made of any suitable conductive material. For example, the electricalconnection layer may be made of a conductive adhesive, a solder or aconductive polymeric material.

The antenna layer 120 of the dual-interface IC card 100 is used tocommunicate wirelessly with another device (e.g., a card reader). Theantenna layer may be made of metal or other suitable material. In someembodiments, the antenna layer is made of a metal coil, such as a coppercoil. The antenna layer may be of any suitable shape, including (withoutbeing limited to) circular, rectangular and square shapes.

The card body 122 of the dual-interface IC card 100 is used to protectother components of the dual-interface IC card and well as to give shapeto the dual-interface IC card. The card body may be made of plastic orother suitable material. In some embodiments, an assembly step can beperformed by attaching the antenna layer 120 and the card body to thedual-interface IC chip module 150 to produce the dual-interface IC card.

FIG. 2 depicts a front-side view of an embodiment of the dual-interfaceIC chip module 150 depicted in FIG. 1. In the embodiment depicted inFIG. 2, a front-side view of a dual-interface IC chip module 250 shows acontact layer 202, which includes a contact plate 232 and groove lines224. The contact layer 202 depicted in FIG. 2 is one possible embodimentof the contact layer 102 depicted in FIG. 1. However, the contact layer102 depicted in FIG. 1 is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.For example, the contact layer 102 depicted in FIG. 1 may havegroove/recess lines that are different from the groove lines 224 shownin FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 depicts a back-side view of the dual-interface IC chip module 250depicted in FIG. 2. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, a back-sideview of the dual-interface IC chip module shows an IC chip 310, bondwires 312, and A-shaped antenna contact leads 308. The embodiment of theantenna contact leads 308 depicted in FIG. 3 is a possible embodiment ofthe antenna contact leads 108 depicted in FIG. 1. However, the antennacontact leads 108 depicted in FIG. 1 are not limited to the embodimentshown in FIG. 3. For example, the antenna contact leads 108 depicted inFIG. 1 can be implemented in a shape that is different from the antennacontact leads shown in FIG. 3.

A process of manufacturing the dual-interface IC chip module 150depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 4-12. Compared with a conventionalmanufacturing process in which a dual-interface IC chip module is madeusing a relatively expensive double-sided contact tape as a basestructure, the manufacturing process produces the dual-interface IC chipmodule 150 using a cost-effective prefabricated single-sided contactbase structure, e.g., a single-sided contact tape, and antenna contactleads that are attached to the single-sided contact base structure. Byusing the prefabricated single-sided contact base structure, the cost ofthe dual-interface IC chip module is significantly reduced. In addition,the manufacturing process produces the dual-interface IC chip module 150by applying an adhesive material to only partially cover an overlappingarea of the antenna contact 108 and the substrate 104. Consequently, thedual-interface IC chip module 150 can be produced more cost-effectivelythan a dual-interface contact structure manufactured by applying anadhesive material to completely cover an overlapping area of an antennacontact and a substrate. Further, attaching the antenna contact to thesingle sided substrate by applying an adhesive material to completelycover an overlapping area of the antenna contact and the single sidedsubstrate can result in stiffness increase of the module substrate andsignificant amount of adhesive usage. Attaching the antenna contact tothe single sided substrate only by partial coverage of adhesive materialcan enable flexible movement of clip in nonglued areas, reducecontamination of antenna connection area by glue fillet and allow morerobust handling, transportation and production.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the process of manufacturing thedual-interface IC chip module 150 begins by obtaining a single-sidedcontact tape 440 having multiple single-sided contact base structures450. In FIG. 4, the single-sided contact tape 440 includes two columnsof single-sided contact base structures 450. As shown in FIG. 4, aback-side view of the single-sided contact tape shows the back-side ofsingle-sided contact base structures with bonding holes 426. Thesingle-sided contact tape may be in the form of standalone sheet or in areel-to-reel format. Although the single-sided contact tape is shown inFIG. 4 as including two columns of single-sided contact base structures,in other embodiment, the single-sided contact tape may include a singlecolumn or more than two columns of single-sided contact base structures.In addition, although the single-sided contact base structure 450 isshown in FIG. 4 as including certain number of bonding holes, in otherembodiment, the single-sided contact base structure may include bondholes in any suitable number. The single-sided contact tape may beobtained by purchasing it from a tape supplier, such as Linxens,Interplex, Kinsus, LG Innotek and Possehl. Alternatively, thesingle-sided contact tape may be obtained by making it from scratchusing a known manufacturing process.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view (along a dotted line 452 shown in FIG.4) of the single-sided contact base structure 450 depicted in FIG. 4. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 5, the single-sided contact base structure 450includes the contact layer 102 with the groove lines 124-1, 124-2, theadhesive layer 103 and the substrate 104. The bonding hole 426 ispresent on the substrate to enable future wire bonding.

After obtaining the single-sided contact tape 440, the manufacturingprocess proceeds to the next step in which adhesive is applied to thesingle-sided contact tape. FIG. 6 depicts a portion 650 of one of thesingle-sided contact base structures 450 (at an area 454 shown in FIG.4) of the single-sided contact tape with applied adhesive 610. In FIG.6, glue or other adhesive material is applied (e.g., dispensed) to oneof the single-sided contact base structure of the single-sided contacttape. The adhesive may be conductive such that the antenna contact leads108 are in electrical contact with the substrate 104. As shown in FIG.6, the adhesive is applied to the single-sided contact tape at twoadhesive application areas 660-1, 660-2. The adhesive application areasare selected such that the dual-interface IC chip module 150 can deformto avoid the damages of the IC card under mechanical stress. In someembodiments, the adhesive application areas 660-1, 660-2 are defined tobe the same as or larger than the area of the antenna contact leads 108that are covered by the encapsulation 114. Compared to applying theadhesive freely to encircle bond holes 426, applying the adhesive onlyat the selected adhesive application areas reduces the amount of glue orother adhesive material usage, increases mechanical flexibility of thedual-interface IC chip module 150 and eases the restriction to adhesivematerial selection on needed flexibility. In some embodiments, one ormore temporary adhesive application areas are used to provide a breakjoint option for more robust handling, transportation and production ofthe dual-interface IC chip module 150. For example, as shown in FIG. 6,the adhesive can be applied to the temporary adhesive application area660-3 to form a break joint between the antenna contact leads 108 andthe substrate 104. The break joint can be removed in a final IC cardmanufacturing process.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view (along a dotted line 652 shown in FIG.6) of the single-sided contact tape 440, which includes the single-sidedcontact tape portion 650 depicted in FIG. 6. In FIG. 7, the single-sidedcontact tape includes the contact layer 102 with the groove lines 124-1,124-2, the adhesive layer 103, the substrate 104, and the adhesive layer106, which is formed from the applied adhesive 610.

After the adhesive 610 has been applied to the single-sided contact tape440, the manufacturing process proceeds to the next step in whichantenna contact leads are attached to the single-sided contact tapeusing the applied adhesive to form a dual-interface contact tape withmultiple dual-interface contact structures. The antenna contact leadscan be attached to the single-sided contact tape by a pick-and-placeprocess in which one or more antenna contact leads are picked up andplaced on the single-sided contact tape. Alternatively, the antennacontact leads can be attached to the single-sided contact tape in areel-to-reel process in which adhesive is applied to the antenna contactleads on a first reel, which is then applied onto a second reel, i.e.,the single-sided contact tape, similar to the process of attaching asheet of paper labels onto products.

FIG. 8 depicts a portion 850 of the dual-interface contact tape with anattached antenna contact lead 808, which is part of a singledual-interface contact structure. The dual-interface contact tapeportion 850 corresponds to part of the single-sided contact tape portion650 of FIG. 6. In FIG. 8, the antenna contact lead 808 is attached tothe single-sided contact tape 440 via the applied adhesive 610 (shown inFIGS. 6 and 7). Alternatively, the antenna contact lead can be attachedto the single-sided contact tape by applying an adhesive to the antennacontact lead and then placing antenna contact lead with the adhesive onthe single-sided contact tape. The antenna contact lead can be attachedto the single-sided contact tape only on inner lead-fingers of theantenna contact lead. Alternatively, the antenna contact lead can beattached to the single-sided contact tape on inner lead-fingers of theantenna contact lead and on at least one position to form a break joint.The antenna contact lead 808 depicted in FIG. 8 is one possibleembodiment of the antenna contact leads 108 depicted in FIG. 1. However,the antenna contact leads 108 depicted in FIG. 1 are not limited to theembodiment shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view (along a dotted line 852 shown in FIG.6) of the dual-interface contact tape, which includes the dual-interfacecontact structure portion 850 depicted in FIG. 8. In particular, FIG. 9shows a single dual-interface contact structure formed within thedual-interface contact tape. As shown in FIG. 9, the dual-interfacecontact structure includes the contact layer 102 with the groove lines124-1, 124-2, the adhesive layer 103, the substrate 104, the adhesivelayer 106, and two antenna contact leads 808. In an embodiment, theantenna contact leads 808 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are produced from asheet or a reel to reel of a conductive material or a sheet or a reel toreel of a non-conductive material with a conductive plating. A curingstep (e.g., oven curing) may be performed by applying heat to thedual-interface contact structure. Since the dual-interface contactstructure of FIG. 9 is made from an inexpensive single-sided contacttape, the cost of the dual-interface contact structure is significantlylower than a comparable conventional dual-interface contact structuremade from an expensive double-sided contact tape. In addition, becausethe mechanical flexibility of the dual-interface contact structureportion 850 is obtained by the gap between the adhesive layer 106 andthe antenna contact lead 808, the adhesive 610 needs not be made of aflexible material, which is typically more expensive. Consequently, thedual-interface contact structure of FIG. 9 can be made morecost-effectively, compared to a dual-interface contact structure made byconventional manufacturing processes.

After the antenna contact leads 808 have been attached to thesingle-sided contact tape 440 to form the dual-interface contact tape,the manufacturing process proceeds to the next step in which IC chips,bond wires and encapsulations are added to the dual-interface contactstructures in the dual-interface contact tape to form dual-interface ICchip modules in the dual-interface contact tape. FIG. 10 depicts anembodiment of a dual-interface contact tape 1040 having multipledual-interface IC chip modules 1050, which are formed by attaching theIC chips 110 to dual-interface contact structures 850, attaching thebond wires 112 to the antenna contact leads 808 and to the contact layer102 (not shown in FIG. 10), and then forming the encapsulations 114 overthe IC chips and the bond wires. A separation (e.g., punching orcutting) step can then be performed to separate (e.g., punch out or cut)the dual-interface contact tape 1040 to separate the dual-interface ICchip modules 1050 into individual pieces. For example, a punchingprocess can be performed based on the outline shown in FIG. 4 toseparate the dual-interface IC chip modules into individual pieces aftera hotmelt tape is applied to the backside of the tape 440. Thedual-interface IC chip module 1050 depicted in FIG. 10 is one possibleembodiment of the dual-interface IC chip module 150 depicted in FIG. 1.However, the dual-interface IC chip module 150 depicted in FIG. 1 is notlimited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view (along a dotted line 1052 shown inFIG. 10) of one of the dual-interface IC chip modules 1050 depicted inFIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 11, the dual-interface IC chip module includesthe contact layer 102 with the groove lines 124-1, 124-2, the adhesivelayer 103, the substrate 104, the adhesive layer 106, the two antennacontact leads 808, the IC chip 110, the bond wires 112, and theencapsulation 114. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11, the adhesivelayer is only applied to the area of the substrate that is covered bythe encapsulation, as indicated by dotted line 1160. Outside theencapsulation, no adhesive coverage is applied to enable flexibility ofthe antenna contact lead. Compared to dual-interface IC chip modulesmade by attaching antennal contact leads to the substrate throughapplying adhesive material to cover the overlapping area between theantenna contact leads and the substrate, the dual-interface IC chipmodules 1050 depicted in FIG. 10 has a reduced amount of glue or otheradhesive material usage, increased mechanical flexibility and a widerange of adhesive material selection. FIG. 12 illustrates somemechanical tests for the dual-interface IC card 100 depicted in FIG. 1.As shown in illustrated in FIG. 12, the dual-interface IC card is bentin different degrees and angles in mechanical tests of thedual-interface IC card. When the dual-interface IC card 100 is bent, thedual-interface IC chip module 1050 deforms, following the card bodycurvature. FIG. 13 illustrates a deformation of the dual-interface ICcard 100 depicted in FIG. 1 under mechanical tests. As illustrated inFIG. 13, when the dual-interface IC card is bent, the antenna contactlead 108 is shifted from its original location to a new location 1080,as shown in the dotted circle 1190.

FIG. 14 is a process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing adual-interface IC card component in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. At block 1402, a single-sided contact base structure isobtained, where the single-sided contact base structure includes asubstrate with an electrical contact layer. In some embodiments, thesingle-sided contact base structure is part of a single-sided contacttape, such as the single-sided contact tape 440 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.At block 1404, at least one antenna contact lead is attached to thesingle-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesive material topartially cover an overlapping area of the at least one antenna contactand the substrate to form a dual-interface contact structure, which is acomponent of a dual-interface IC card. In some embodiments, thedual-interface contact structure is part of a dual-interface contacttape, such as the dual-interface contact tape shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Turning back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the antenna contact leads108 are placed on the substrate 104, and subsequently, the contact layer102 is formed on the substrate. In a manufacturing process in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention, in a first step, holes or otheropenings are punched into the substrate, which may be a glass epoxy tapeor other isolation layer. In a second step, adhesive (e.g., the adhesive610 at FIG. 6) is applied onto the antenna contact leads or on thesubstrate. In a third step, the antenna contact leads are placed on thesubstrate. In a fourth step, the adhesive is cured. In a fifth step, aconductive tape is attached (e.g., laminated) to the substrate to formthe contact layer 102. It is also possible to cure the adhesive togetherwith the conductive tape. In a sixth step, the structure formed by thesubstrate and the conductive tape is separated (e.g., with laser or byetching) into different areas, which can be used for the necessary ISO(e.g., ISO/IEC 14443) areas for interconnection. In a seventh step, thecontact layer and the antenna contact leads are plated simultaneously orone side after the other with one or more plating materials, such asnickel (Ni), gold (Au) and palladium (Pd). Plating the contact layer andthe antenna contact leads allows the contact layer and the antennacontact leads to have better appearance and/or better electricalconductivity. For example, the antenna contact leads may benon-conductive and plating the antenna contact leads allows surfaces ofthe antenna contact leads to be conductive.

FIG. 15 is a process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing adual-interface IC card component in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. At block 1502, a base structure that includes a substrate isobtained. At block 1504, at least one antenna contact lead is attachedto the base structure by applying an adhesive material to partiallycover an overlapping area of the at least one antenna contact and thesubstrate to form a dual-interface contact structure, which is acomponent of a dual-interface IC card. At block 1506, the at least oneantenna contact and the base structure are plated with at least onemetal material.

Although the operations of the method herein are shown and described ina particular order, the order of the operations of the method may bealtered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse orderor so that certain operations may be performed, at least in part,concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructionsor sub-operations of distinct operations may be implemented in anintermittent and/or alternating manner.

In addition, although specific embodiments of the invention that havebeen described or depicted include several components described ordepicted herein, other embodiments of the invention may include fewer ormore components to implement less or more feature.

Furthermore, although specific embodiments of the invention have beendescribed and depicted, the invention is not to be limited to thespecific forms or arrangements of parts so described and depicted. Thescope of the invention is to be defined by the claims appended heretoand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a dual-interfaceintegrated circuit (IC) card component, the method comprising: obtaininga single-sided contact base structure, wherein the single-sided contactbase structure comprises a substrate with an electrical contact layer;attaching at least one antenna contact lead to the single-sided contactbase structure by applying an adhesive material to partially cover anoverlapping area of the at least one antenna contact and the substrateto form a dual-interface contact structure, which is a component of adual-interface IC card; and attaching an encapsulation to thedual-interface contact structure to produce a dual-interface IC chipmodule, wherein attaching the at least one antenna contact lead to thesingle-sided contact base structure comprises only applying the adhesivematerial to an area of the substrate that is covered by theencapsulation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein attaching the at leastone antenna contact lead to the single-sided contact base structurecomprises: picking up an antenna contact lead; and placing the antennacontact lead on the single-sided contact base structure to attach theantenna contact lead to the single-sided contact base structure.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising electrically connecting the atleast one antenna contact lead to an antenna located on the substratethrough a bond wire or other electrical connection.
 4. A method formanufacturing a dual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component,the method comprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure,wherein the single-sided contact base structure comprises a substratewith an electrical contact layer; attaching at least one antenna contactlead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesivematerial to partially cover an overlapping area of the at least oneantenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card; andattaching an encapsulation to the dual-interface contact structure toproduce a dual-interface IC chip module, wherein attaching the at leastone antenna contact lead to the single-sided contact base structurecomprises applying the adhesive material to an area of the substratethat is covered by the encapsulation and another area that is notcovered by the encapsulation to form a break joint between the at leastone antenna contact lead and the substrate.
 5. A method formanufacturing a dual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component,the method comprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure,wherein the single-sided contact base structure comprises a substratewith an electrical contact layer; and attaching at least one antennacontact lead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying anadhesive material to partially cover an overlapping area of the at leastone antenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card, whereinattaching the at least one antenna contact lead to the single-sidedcontact base structure comprises: applying the adhesive material to thesubstrate of the single-sided contact base structure; and placing anantenna contact lead on the applied adhesive material to attach theantenna contact lead to the single-sided contact base structure.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein applying the adhesive material to thesubstrate comprises dispensing glue onto the substrate.
 7. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising curing the adhesive material.
 8. The methodof claim 7, further plating the at least one antenna contact lead aftercuring the adhesive material.
 9. A method for manufacturing adual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component, the methodcomprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure, wherein thesingle-sided contact base structure comprises a substrate with anelectrical contact layer; and attaching at least one antenna contactlead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesivematerial to partially cover an overlapping area of the at least oneantenna contact lead and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card; and placingthe antenna contact lead with the applied adhesive material on thesingle-sided contact base structure to attach the antenna contact leadto the single-sided contact base structure.
 10. A method formanufacturing a dual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component,the method comprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure,wherein the single-sided contact base structure comprises a substratewith an electrical contact layer; and attaching at least one antennacontact lead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying anadhesive material to partially cover an overlapping area of the at leastone antenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card, wherein thecontact layer is attached to a first side of the substrate, and whereinthe at least one antenna contact lead is attached to a second, opposite,side of the substrate.
 11. A method for manufacturing a dual-interfaceintegrated circuit (IC) card component, the method comprising: obtaininga single-sided contact base structure, wherein the single-sided contactbase structure comprises a substrate with an electrical contact layer;and attaching at least one antenna contact lead to the single-sidedcontact base structure by applying an adhesive material to partiallycover an overlapping area of the at least one antenna contact and thesubstrate to form a dual-interface contact structure, which is acomponent of a dual-interface IC card, wherein the at least one antennacontact lead is obtained by punching, etching or laser cutting a sheetor a reel to reel of a conductive material or a sheet or a reel to reelof a non-conductive material with a conductive plating.
 12. A method formanufacturing a dual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component,the method comprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure,wherein the single-sided contact base structure comprises a substratewith an electrical contact layer; and attaching at least one antennacontact lead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying anadhesive material to partially cover an overlapping area of the at leastone antenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card, whereinobtaining the single-sided contact base structure comprises obtaining asingle-sided contact tape.
 13. A method for manufacturing adual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component, the methodcomprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure, wherein thesingle-sided contact base structure comprises a substrate with anelectrical contact layer; attaching at least one antenna contact lead tothe single-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesive materialto partially cover an overlapping area of the at least one antennacontact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contact structure,which is a component of a dual-interface IC card; and attaching an ICchip, at least one bond wire or other electrical connection and anencapsulation to the dual-interface contact structure to produce thedual-interface IC chip module.
 14. A method for manufacturing adual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component, the methodcomprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure, wherein thesingle-sided contact base structure comprises a substrate with anelectrical contact layer; and attaching at least one antenna contactlead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesivematerial to partially cover an overlapping area of the at least oneantenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card, whereinafter the at least one antenna contact lead is attached to thesingle-sided contact base structure, the at least one antenna contactlead can move in a portion of the overlapping area that is not coveredby the adhesive material while maintaining an electrical connection toan antenna of the dual-interface IC card.
 15. A method for manufacturinga dual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component, the methodcomprising: obtaining a single-sided contact base structure, wherein thesingle-sided contact base structure comprises a substrate with anelectrical contact layer; and attaching at least one antenna contactlead to the single-sided contact base structure by applying an adhesivematerial to partially cover an overlapping area of the at least oneantenna contact and the substrate to form a dual-interface contactstructure, which is a component of a dual-interface IC card, wherein theadhesive material comprises one of conductive glue, non-conductive glue,a double sided sticky tape and an anisotropic conductive foil.
 16. Amethod for manufacturing a dual-interface integrated circuit (IC) cardcomponent, the method comprising: obtaining a base structure, whereinthe base structure comprises a substrate; attaching at least one antennacontact lead to the base structure by applying an adhesive material topartially cover an overlapping area of the at least one antenna contactand the substrate to form a dual-interface contact structure, which is acomponent of a dual-interface IC card; plating the at least one antennacontact and the base structure with at least one metal material; andattaching an encapsulation to the dual-interface contact structure toproduce a dual-interface IC chip module, wherein attaching the at leastone antenna contact lead to the base structure comprises only applyingthe adhesive material to an area of the substrate that is covered by theencapsulation.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the metal materialcomprises one of nickel (Ni), gold (Au) or palladium (pd).
 18. Adual-interface integrated circuit (IC) card component, thedual-interface IC card component comprising: a substrate; an electricalcontact layer attached to a first side of the substrate, the electricalcontact layer comprising a contact plate and a plurality of grooves; atleast one antenna contact lead glued to a second, opposite, side of thesubstrate in an area of the at least one antenna contact so that theglue partially covers the overlapping area of the at least one antennacontact and the substrate; and an encapsulation attached to thedual-interface contact structure to produce a dual-interface IC chipmodule, wherein the at least one antenna contact lead is attached to thesingle-sided contact base structure, and wherein the adhesive materialis applied to an area of the substrate that is covered by theencapsulation and another area that is not covered by the encapsulationto form a break joint between the at least one antenna contact lead andthe substrate.